What's a fire station without a fire pole? $150,000 cheaper

Published 10:00 pm, Thursday, April 24, 2008

After it was calculated that the two poles installed at Fire Station 10 cost $150,000 each, department leaders forced to trim the budget decided to leave fire poles out of future construction.

After it was calculated that the two poles installed at Fire Station 10 cost $150,000 each, department leaders forced to trim the budget decided to leave fire poles out of future construction.

Photo: Andy Rogers/Seattle Post-Intelligencer

What's a fire station without a fire pole? $150,000 cheaper

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In the future, Seattle firefighters will be taking the stairs.

The tradition of sliding down the brass fire pole to reach the engine fast is being phased out with construction of new fire stations because of cost.

The decision galled some firefighters, not for sentimental reasons, but because they're worried that taking the stairs is just too slow.

"They (fire poles) can have a significant effect in reducing response times and in our business, seconds count," said firefighter Ken Stuart, president of the Seattle Firefighters Union, Local 27.

Department leaders say they cost too much. Two poles installed in the recently built Station 10 cost $150,000 each.

"It's kind of like anything else. Your dream list is a lot bigger than how much money you have in your pocket and you've got to make some tough decisions," Fire Chief Gregory Dean said. "And this was one of the tough decisions."

In 2003, voters approved a $167 million levy to rebuild or renovate the city's 32 fire stations. The work ranges from basic earthquake upgrades to entirely new stations. In early 2006, the city learned that the cost estimates were too low, and that to do all the work the levy had promised would cost another $67 million.

To get an exemption, the Fire Department agreed to several safety features. These included enclosing the fire pole openings in rooms with doors that remain locked until the fire alarm sounds. The door latch was also set higher than usual, 5 feet from the floor, and the room is always lighted.

Dean said additional work, including allowing holes in the floor while still building a structure tough enough to withstand a major quake, all boosted the price tag of the pole installation.

Last month, he said, the city looked at the final costs of the new $44.3 million building, which includes the station house, the city's Emergency Operations Center and a fire dispatch center. That's when Dean learned the poles, with the added safety features, cost $150,000 each.

That figure is viewed skeptically by firefighters.

"Maybe I shop at a different hardware store, but that doesn't sound like hundreds of thousands of dollars," one firefighter said about the safety features on the new poles.

Only 11 of the city's 32 stations have poles. All of those stations, even with renovations, will keep the poles, Dean said.

The stations being affected are those that will become two-story structures after renovations, including Stations 28 in the Rainier Valley, 30 in Mount Baker, 35 on Crown Hill and 37 in West Seattle.

The firefighter, who asked not to be named, works at one of those affected stations. Like others, he wanted a fire pole and thinks firefighters relying on stairs alone is asking for trouble.

"We're going to be forced to have six, seven, possibly eight, maybe even nine people running down stairs," the firefighter said. "It only takes one person's misstep and you're going to have a crew of people at the bottom of the staircase."

Some firefighters said they think it isn't the money, but fear of lawsuits that is ending the fire pole tradition. There have been two serious accidents involving fire poles in Seattle.

In December 2003, a young boy fell through the hole at Station 10, fracturing his skull and several facial bones when he hit the ground. The boy survived but suffered a traumatic brain injury. The city later settled with the family for $1.25 million.

Also in December 2003, firefighter Mark Jones fell through a hole at Station 33 and was so severely injured, he has been unable to return to work as a firefighter. He has filed a $5 million lawsuit accusing the city of negligence for not properly safeguarding the alcove leading to the pole.

The trial is scheduled to start in June.

But Dean insists fire poles can be made safe, as evidenced by the new poles at Station 10. It's just that making them safe costs more than the city can afford.

"Trying to stay in budget is difficult as it is," Dean said.

Stuart said the union is still working on getting the city to change its stance.

"When you reduce response times even by 30 seconds, it gives people a much greater edge in survival."

Tradition, he said, is not the reason for the union's position.

"The fire service has a lot of history but we definitely don't make decisions based on history or tradition," he said. "We make our decisions based on our ability to serve the public and the safety of the firefighters."